A Study In Change
by Highfunctioningfangirlat221B
Summary: Alexandra Fisher decides to start a new life and leave the past behind her. But what will she find when she moves to London? And what will happen when she meets her new neighbor Molly Hooper and is dragged into the world of one Sherlock Holmes? Rating just in case and for possible future events
1. Move to London

Chapter One

I groaned and rolled over as the alarm clock on my bedside table interrupted my dreams. Too comfortable in the soft, warm sheets, I closed my eyes and laid there for a moment. Then I remembered what day it was. Moving day. A nervous, but excited feeling entered the pit of my stomach. I pulled the covers back and got out of bed, padding to the kitchen to boil the water for hot chocolate. I made myself a quick breakfast as I thought about what the day would bring. I remembered the day I first decided to move to London. I woke up one day realizing nothing was holding me back from a fresh start. I was finally ready to move on and build a new life. I started researching places to live in London that day and after quite a while of searching I found one.

I was taking a chance, and it was the most adventurous thing I've ever done, deciding to suddenly up and move my life.

Finishing breakfast, I went to shower quickly and get dressed. I examined myself in the bathroom mirror until I was finally somewhat satisfied with how I looked. I don't consider myself pretty, just average. I have dark brown hair that falls to my shoulders, hazel eyes, and normal facial features. I'm a pretty normal height, maybe on the shorter side, and a normal weight. I changed into comfortable clothes to wear on a plane and tucked the remaining items I needed for this morning in their respective boxes. Looking around my empty apartment for the last time, I took a deep breath.

_Well...here goes nothing! _I thought.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

Before I knew it I was almost moved into my new apartme-flat. I could get used to the view of London outside my window, I decided, with all the black cabs, pedestrians, tall buildings, and the cloudy London skyline with the perfect view of the London Eye. I had finished unpacking and was proudly looking around my new home when I heard a small knock on my door. Getting up from the couch, I went to answer it. It was a beautiful and shy looking young woman.  
"Hello," she greeted me with a friendly smile.

"Hello" I answered, smiling back.

"My name is Molly Hooper. I just wanted to come welcome you to London." she said sweetly. "I live in the flat that's attached right next to yours. You're Alexandra, right?"  
"Yes, oh thank you so much!" I could already tell I liked this girl.

"If you ever need some advice or help getting to know London, I can always help. I can see how it would be overwhelming to someone." she laughed.

"Yeah, just a bit" I chuckled. "Thank you so much! Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"  
"That would be lovely, thank you!"

"Wow, I really like your flat!" she complimented, looking around.

"Thank you so much!" I set the kettle on, still chatting with my new neighbor.

"What made you want to come to London, Alexandra?" Molly asked.  
"You can call me Alex" I told her warmly. "And I don't know, I think I just really wanted a change. I've always loved travel, and I've always wanted to go to London, so…"  
Molly nodded understandingly. "What do you do?" she asked.  
"Well I've done a lot of stuff, but I'm a writer" I admitted. "What about you?"  
"I'm a pathologist at St. Bart's Hospital"

"That's interesting!"

"I love it, it makes me happy" she shrugged.

When the kettle started to whistle, I poured it into a cup and let Molly fix it the way she likes it.  
"Not having any?" she asked, eyeing me.  
"I'm not one for tea" I confessed, finding a packet of hot chocolate in the cupboard.

"Living in London you'll learn to, trust me" Molly teased.  
We chatted for a little more as we sipped our drinks and got to know each other.

"So what's it like being a pathologist?" I asked curiously.

"Oh it's interesting. It's pretty quiet all day, but I like giving closure to the families of the victims and everything. It's not very exciting unless Sherlock comes in" she shrugged.

"Sherlock?" I asked politely.

"Oh Sherlock Holmes. He's a detective who goes around solving a bunch of crimes. He's quite brilliant. He likes to use me to get body parts or other things he might need for experiments he does" she blushed.

"Oh? And do we have a crush on this Sherlock Holmes?" I teased, my eyebrows raising.

She blushed an even darker shade of red.

"Is it that obvious? Yes, for a few years now." she admitted. "He's tall, dark, and handsome and he can look at you and tell your whole life in just one glance. It's rather quite remarkable. When he looks at you it's like he's seeing through you!"  
"Sounds like quite the Romeo, eh?" I laughed, nudging her playfully.

"Yes, but the brilliance comes with a price. He's a sociopath- he has very little knowledge on how to interact with people. He can be very insulting and blunt and he doesn't know when to stop sometimes, but I can never stay mad at him or blame him because it seems like he's trying…"

"I hope I'll have the pleasure to meet him someday" I smiled.

We continued to chat, and when I found out Molly had a cat, I asked her if she could bring him over. She brought Toby over for me to meet, and he was as sweet as her. At my assurance that she wasn't intruding, Molly stayed for dinner as well. After we had finished cleaning the dishes- Molly insisted on helping- we noticed it was pretty dark out.

"Well I guess I should retire for the evening" she chuckled. "I wasn't expecting on intruding for so long!" she apologized.

"Please don't apologize- I'm glad I've made a friend here!" I laughed.

"Like I said, if you ever need anything…"  
"Thank you so much" I gave her a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow!"  
"See you tomorrow" she called back, giving me grin as she departed.

That night I fell asleep with a smile on my face- I had already made one friend in London.


	2. Mr Sherlock Holmes

Chapter Two

Molly and I quickly became best friends. We spent almost every evening together, having dinner in one of our apartments. Sometimes I would pop into the hospital and have lunch with her on a day where we were both bored. It was really good to have such a good friend in a new place like this.  
Before I knew it a month had passed by. I still couldn't believe I had been in London for a whole month. I was really starting to get settled and used to it. I had started writing again and found myself enjoying it more than I ever had.

"Molly, what are London boys like?" I mused one evening. Molly had taken a personal day and we were spending it together and having a girl evening, having some tea/hot chocolate on my bed.

"I don't get around too much, actually. I keep to myself usually" she shyly admitted.

Suddenly there was banging coming from out in the hall.  
"Molly!" an irritated voice was calling.

Molly and I set our cups down and went to look. A man was standing outside her door in the dimly lit hallway, impatiently pounding on the door.

"Oh!" she gasped. The man heard her and turned.  
"Ah. Molly. There you are. I am in need of your services." the man stated brusquely.

"What? I-"  
"Why weren't you at the hospital today?" he demanded.

"Personal day" she stammered.  
I frowned at the man. Something was familiar about him, like I knew who he was.  
"Ridiculous." he muttered.

"What do you want?" Molly asked a little sharper.  
"Excuse me? Why don't you address her nicely?" I demanded sharply. The stranger's piercing eyes turned to me. Molly noticed.

"O-oh I'm so sorry how rude of me. This is-"

"Your new neighbor in the flat right next to you. Came from the United States, New Hampshire I'd say. A novelist who just decided to move to London on a whim away from her family and few friends she has to forget about her stalker who subsequently murdered her fiance. Not interested. Moving on."

Molly looked so embarrassed she wanted to die.  
And then it clicked in my brain.

"Ah, yes. My name is Alexandra. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sherlock Holmes."

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

Now that it had clicked I felt like an idiot. Of course it was the Sherlock Holmes Molly had told me about! He had the height, the dark hair, the piercing eyes, the bluntness, the rudeness, and the intelligence. I should have known immediately.

"You really are as smart as they say. How on earth did you know all that?" I asked curiously.

"Simple. Attire and pale complexion says New England, but the tag you've forgotten to take off of your shirt says the name of a store only in New Hampshire. The pencil tucked behind your ear that you didn't even remember was there and the ability to move your life and not worry about an occupation suggests writer. Not very close to family seeing as though you so easily left them, and you don't have many friends based off of your quiet and lonely occupation and the fact that you are so closely associated with Molly Hooper-"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Molly scowled.

"-You obviously had a stalker, as is evident by your need of privacy and slight flinching every time your phone in your pocket vibrates and the fact that you moved away. You also have an engagement ring on your hand but on your right ring finger, so you obviously are not engaged any longer, but for reasons out of either of your control. Therefore he died and was murdered by your stalker. You obviously are no longer distraught over it, however you have dark circles under your eyes that also indicate you don't sleep much. Probably nightmares. You have had help and are finally ready to put everything behind you- hence your sudden move to London. Simple."  
Sherlock Holmes spoke very quickly and bluntly. While it was clear he loved to show off, he seemed to be irritated to have to explain his reasonings to something he knew to be true.

"What did you want, Sherlock." Molly demanded icily.

"Oh yes. Could I borrow your mobile?"

"...What?"

"I need it to call a number for a case I'm on."

"You...came all the way here...to ask for her phone?" I blinked.  
"Mine's on the website. Always a possibility it could be recognized."

"Why couldn't you use John's? Mrs. Hudson's?" Molly asked.  
"Mrs. Hudson apparently went out or she didn't hear me shouting. John's out on a date with some woman and I've run out of body parts to experiment with- the reason I stopped by the morgue, though Molly decided to be of no use and use a ridiculous 'personal day'. I'm bored and decided to solve this case and I need your mobile."

"Listen-"  
"Fine. Here." Molly dug in her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, handing it to Sherlock.

Immediately Sherlock dialed a number and waited for it to ring.

"Hello?" a voice sounded on the other end of the call.  
"Allo sir" Sherlock immediately adopted a thick and very convincing French accent. "I have recently heard of your cousin's dreadful passing and wanted to ask if you knew how he was killed I used to be a friend of his"

"He fell into a pool and drowned "  
"We used to be such good friends it's such a tragedy!" Sherlock's fake accent still very natural and convincing.

"Yes, if only he knew how to swim...I'm sorry who did you say you were?"  
"An old friend." Sherlock suddenly dropped the French accent and hung up.

He dialed another number.

"Lestrade? It was the bitter and jealous cousin. He was having an affair with the victim's wife and wanted to win her over and make her be with him permanently."

Sherlock hung up and handed the phone back to Molly.

"Be at work tomorrow." he demanded.

"Okay" Molly softly agreed.  
I had been able to tell that Molly liked Sherlock, but seeing her in front of him I could see just how hopelessly she was in love with him. I had never seen her like this before- tolerating such rudeness, speaking softly, and looking at him with puppy dog eyes. She was head over heels for Sherlock Holmes.


	3. The Second Meeting

Chapter Three

My next encounter with Sherlock Holmes came much too soon for my liking. I came by to have lunch with Molly and walked in to see Sherlock and another shorter man with a kind- looking face and sandy colored hair in the room with Molly.  
"Hello" I greeted, knocking on the open door to alert them of my presence.  
"Hi!" Molly greeted me. She looked quite relieved to have me there now.

"Ah. Yes. Miss Hooper's new neighbor." Sherlock stated without looking up from his microscope.

"Alex." I corrected him.

"Oh you live next to Molly? Marvelous. Nice to meet you, Alex. I'm John. John Watson. I'm Sherlock's flatmate." the other man introduced himself, shaking my hand.  
"Oh! John! It's nice to finally meet you- I've heard good things" I smiled. Very similar to Molly, something about John Watson made me want to smile. His smile was infectious and he seemed like such a nice, genuine person.

John grinned at Molly, "You're too kind."

"So you're his flatmate, huh? That must be interesting" I pointed out, glancing at Sherlock quickly, who paid me no attention.

"Well I'm never bored." John stated dryly, smiling.

Someone knocked on the door and we all turned to look- all except Sherlock who continued to stare intently into his microscope.

A man came in with another man and woman trailing close behind him. The man was pretty tall and was pretty attractive with salt and pepper hair, and as he entered I saw him look around at everyone in the room. His eyes seemed to linger on Molly a little longer than most. The other man had a very sharp face and dark hair. The woman had very curly hair and was fairly pretty but she gave me the opposite feeling Molly and John did when I first met them.

"Ah. Graham. You're here. Finally." Sherlock commented, still eyeing his work.

"It's Gre- nevermind. Have you found anything on the Lester case?"

"It was his hairdresser. Nobody noticed the watch." Sherlock stated matter-of-factly.

"Alright great…Sorry, who are you?" the man asked me politely.

"Oh I'm sorry! I'm Alex. Molly's neighbor." I smiled.

"Oh really? I didn't know Molly had a new neighbor" he looked over and smiled fondly at Molly.

"Yeah, I just moved here from New England last month." I smiled.

"Excellent" John grinned.

"Wonderful. Well it's a pleasure to meet you. Greg Lestrade" he shook my hand. "Welcome to London. This is Sally Donovan and Phillip Anderson."

"Oh it's so nice to finally meet you- I've heard good things" I grinned.

"Really? I'm assuming they weren't from Sherlock?" Greg joked, shooting Molly a grin.  
"Ridiculous." Sherlock muttered.

I could see in the way that he looked at her that Greg Lestrade was interested in Molly. I grinned.

Lestrade and Anderson and Donovan went over to discuss the case with Sherlock and John, and shortly after they left except John. Molly winked at me and took off her coat and gloves and washed her hands so she could eat.

"Could I maybe join you ladies? Sherlock is being an insufferable bastard and told me not to come." John asked.

"Of course, John you're always welcome" Molly smiled.

We made our way down to the cafeteria and found a table to sit at.  
"So how do you put up with Sherlock Holmes? Honestly."  
"Another person he's got off on the wrong foot with, huh?" he sighed.

"He saw fit to announce that I had had a stalker and my fiance was murdered and I am not close with my family and have very few friends." I agreed.

John grimaced. "I'm so sorry. He really can be a good guy, he just….doesn't get people."

"Yeah, I noticed." I agreed dryly.

He looked at me sympathetically. "Hopefully you'll get to see his good side at some point. He really is more than just an genius asshole. Speaking of which…" his eyes flicked to Molly hopefully.  
"I was hoping you might come join us for dinner tomorrow night. It's Mrs. Hudson's birthday and we're trying to get some people she knows to join us."

"Of course I'd love to come!" Molly assured him.

"Sounds good!" John sounded relieved.

After lunch Molly went back to work and I walked around for a bit and returned home, hopefully to write something if my brain would cooperate.


End file.
